ADVANCE REVIEW: Epic #1

by Chris Wilson

Super powers. Every geeky teenage boy dreams of having them. Tyler James, creator of Red Ten, brings us Epic, the story of Eric Ardor. A sixteen year old who acquires super powers through a lab accident. Sound too familiar? Well his “kryptonite” happens to be girls. Read on for the review!

MANY A TEENAGE BOY’S KRYPTONITE

I’m a fan of Tyler James’ Red Ten, so when I saw he had a new comic coming out soon, I wanted to check it out. Everything in the description seemed by the book and generic until the last sentence. “He’s powerless around girls. Literally.” Any male can tell you that as a teenager sex is pretty much all you think about. Girls were my weakness at that age, hell they still are, so to see a comic use that idea to affect superpowers was intriguing.

The issue starts strong, with a fight between Epic and a team of super villains. Every villain is hilarious and there are some nice parodies of mainstream characters. My favorites were Roid Rage, a hulk sized jock, and Mecha-Duck who looks much like the visual his name gives. The rest is your typical origin story, and while the humor remains, it’s fairly standard. Eric receives his powers through a lab accident, decides to become a superhero and learns his weakness. It was fun, but didn’t match the quality of the introduction. There are some nice funny moments and clues left as to who will become Epic’s villains, but it’s by the numbers. The premise is great and its effect on Eric as he tries to do good were, apart from the beginning, the best. Unable to stop the school bully because his hot girlfriend is near and flying by a Victoria’s Secret type billboard causing him to fall out of the sky were great, funny moments. The revelation of his weakness at the end is blunted by the fact that we already know what it is. This is obviously an introduction, needed to set up the title, but there are enough fun and interesting concepts sprinkled throughout that I’ll be checking out the next issue.

TWO COHESIVE STYLES

With two artist on the book there is a noticeable shift, but they are similar and work well together. Both Matt Zoloman and Fico Ossio have a light, fun look to their style, much like you would see in Invincible. I did find the latter half to have more unique panel layouts, but everything was enjoyable. The coloring is nice and bright and adds to the light-hearted nature. The best part is again the super villain’s designs and I can’t wait to see more of them. I’m sure as the story progresses and gets more unique, the art will follow and be even more fun.

BOTTOM LINE: WONDERFUL PREMISE, AVERAGE INTRODUCTION

Epic’s hook is what will draw readers in. Tyler James has come up with an entertaining and humorous concept that is sure to please fans of the superhero genre. It also succeeds in showing the awkwardness that comes with being a teenager. While the issue starts wonderfully, it’s hindered by the familiar origin story. The end revelation is spoiled by the very premise that is needed to draw readers to the indy title. The opening pages do promise much more original ideas to come and there are such fun and interesting things going on that I very much want to read more. Epic #1 earns 3 out of 5 stars. You can check out a preview of Epic hereand help fund it on Kickstarter.

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Ever since he was young, Chris has sided with super-villains. At age 8 he became a Decepticon sympathizer. When he turned 18 he left home to become an Agent of A.I.M. He quit at 21 (the costumes were too stupid) and devoted his time to all things geek. His hobbies include making aluminum foil hats, magic, taxidermy and music. Oh, and reading comics. Lots and lots of comics. More nonsense can be followed at @scaabs on Twitter.